Syria

The United Nations reported that the number of people killed during the seven month uprising in Syria has exceeded 3,000. (..) As violence escalates in Yemen so does food insecurity, according to the U.N. World Food Programme.

Fighting has intensified in north-western regions of Libya and the United Nations has stepped up its effort to help wounded civilians in the area (..). She said the port of Khums in the northwest received its first humanitarian assistance vessel on 19 June with 546 tons of food delivered to 106,000 beneficiaries in the area, in cooperation with the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

Syria's decision to make cash payments to thousands of vulnerable families and reduce some taxes could help stem food insecurity and rising poverty, but many still do not have enough to eat, say experts. (..) "There is a situation of food insecurity in the drought-affected areas,” said Selly Muzammil, World Food Programme (WFP) spokesman in Syria. “Our latest assessment shows 25 percent of the rural population in the five surveyed governorates are experiencing food insecurity.”

Oshana Khamo is one of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have taken refuge in Syria from the violence at home and have been kept waiting for years to be resettled elsewhere to start a new life. (..) While they wait, Iraqi refugees in Syria pay regular visits to the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) offices near Damascus for food assistance. (..) In 2010, the WFP spent 32 million dollars in food assistance to cover the needs of Iraqis registered with the UNHCR. "We calculate the daily needs of each family in calories," said Muzammil Selly, a member of the press office of the WFP.

The ancient Inezi tribe of Syria reared camels in the sandswept lands north of the Euphrates river from the time of the Prophet Mohammad. Now water shortages have consigned that way of life to distant memory. (..) The World Food Programme is helping to feed 190,000 people, with another 110,000 needing rations. The United Nations estimates 800,000 of the eastern region's 5 million people live in extreme poverty.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Syria is rolling out an electronic food voucher scheme for Iraqis after a successful pilot phase. The initiative, which WFP Syria says is the first of its kind using mobile phone technology, will reach 9,600 families, comprising around 32,500 refugees, across Syria. “After successful implementation in Damascus, we are expanding its implementation to other governorates,” said Muhannad Hadi, WFP Syria's country director, in a statement.

Four our consecutive droughts since 2006 have triggered "significant losses" of crops and livestock in Syria, mostly in the northeast of the country, a UN official said on Tuesday. (..) In June, the World Food Programme started delivering food aid to nearly 200,000 people in those three provinces in the second such initiative since the United Nations launched a plan last year to combat the effects of the drought. "The situation is really bad" in northeast Syria, WFP official Selly Muzammil said in June.

On a dusty, rocky plain patches of dried grass try to poke through. A couple of makeshift tents, composed of scraps of material flapping insecurely in the wind, attract the eye while two swaddled figures can be seen talking in the background. (..) Food handouts have been provided to many remaining in the region but international aid agencies such as the World Food Program are short of funds and have not been able to reach everyone.

As you drive along the Euphrates river in northern Syria, you see lush green fields, but keep travelling east, and the land that was once filled with life is now dry, barren and empty. (..) The United Nations and the Red Cross along with the Syrian government are providing some help to the families. The World Food Programme (WFP) has started to distribute food to more than 200,000 people and the Red Cross has funded water deliveries. The UN estimates around 800,000 people have left their homes.

The Syrian government and the UN World Food Program(WFP) on Monday signed a memo of understanding for the Emergency Project No. 200040 on providing assistances to the displaced Iraqis in Syria with a USD 32 million estimated value. (..) The WFP Resident Representative in Damascus, Muhannad Hadi, hailed the Syrian government efforts for providing the displaced Iraqis with requirements , embracing them and granting them the same privileges of the Syrian citizens.